About 1.2 million tickets have been purchased for the World Cup, with 40 million applications submitted to attend the tournaments.
NATO confirmed on Thursday that it will assist Qatar in security measures during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as part of the bloc’s close cooperation with Doha.
“The support will include training against threats posed by Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) materials, which will be delivered by Slovakia and NATO’s Joint CBRN Defence Centre of Excellence in the Czech Republic,” the North Atlantic alliance explained in a statement.
The security support will also entail training offered by Romania for the protection of very important people (VIPs) as well as to deter threats posed by improvised explosive devices.
“A first training session dealing with Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear threats was conducted this past May in Slovakia,” it added.
Security assistance during World Cup
Earlier this month, Qatari and Turkish delegations held a meeting in Doha to discuss security matters in preparation for hosting the major tournament later this year.
In January, Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said his country will temporarily send 3,250 security officers to Qatar for the sporting event. Those to be deployed during the tournament include 3,000 riot police officers, 100 Turkish special forces, 50 bomb detection dogs and their operators, 50 bomb experts and other staff – all of whom will be on duty for some 45 days.
Soylu also added that Ankara has also trained 677 Qatari security personnel in 38 different professional areas, without providing further details on the specificities, according to Al Jazeera.
The Qatari and Turkish interior ministries had previously signed an agreement to join efforts in organising the much anticipated football event. One such effort includes Turkey’s participation in the security organisation of the World Cup 2022.
Morocco has also reportedly agreed to deploy a team of cybersecurity experts to Qatar ahead of the World Cup, Rabat-based media said.
According to the report by Morocco World News, Doha had requested Rabat’s assistance in securing the major sporting event as part of its efforts to expand the two countries’ security cooperation.
Away from the region, Britain’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy is set to provide counter-terror policing during the competition, Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom announced in late May.
Britain and Qatar will “join forces to provide air policing in the skies,” said Wallace in an official statement.
It is the first time Britain has provided this level of security for a World Cup held outside the UK.
The Ministry of Defence will support Qatar with military capabilities to counter terrorism and other threats to the tournament through maritime security, operational planning, and command and control support, according to a defence source told The Telegraph in late May.
